Tag Archive | We Are X

Drummer, Pianist, Composer, Record, Producer, Entrepreneur: there is not much at which Japan’s most famous Rock Star, Yoshiki Hayashi does not excel. On January 12 and 13, 2017, Yoshiki added one more impressive accomplishment to his extensive resume, when he made New York City’s legendary Carnegie Hall feel like an intimate venue. Accompanied by the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Yoshiki performed for two sold-out nights at the famous concert hall’s Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage as part of his Yoshiki Classical SpecialWorld Tour, and what a fantastic evening it was!

While Yoshiki is not exactly a household name stateside, his level of renown continues to grow thanks to the recently released, award-winning documentary film, We Are X, which tells the amazing true story of X, the groundbreaking heavy metal band Yoshiki founded in the 1980s, which continues to perform today, including a sold-out concert at Madison Square Garden in October of 2014, which I was fortunate to attend.

The evening’s two-hour program featured many original compositions including modern classical pieces, themes for TV and film (including the Yoshiki-penned Golden Globes Theme) and songs he has preformed with X, such as “Hero” and “Endless Rain,” which were presented here with alternate, classical arrangements. Also included were popular pieces by Beethoven and Tchaikovsky, which have special, personal meaning for the pianist.

Despite playing for such a large crowd, Yoshiki kept fans engaged by taking frequent breaks (between nearly every piece), to chat with the audience, sharing fun anecdotes about his life and his career. Adele does this same kind of thing at her shows, and it makes the concert so much more personal and memorable. Plus, Yoshiki is so charming and adorable, he was stealing hearts right and left.

Clips from We Are X occasionally appeared on the stage as a backdrop, as a means to illustrate a song’s importance, or as a way for Yoshiki to pay homage to departed loved ones. Above, you can see Yoshiko performing in X with former bandmate, Hide, who took his own life in 1988. The song “Without You” was dedicated to Hide’s memory as well as that of Yoshiki’s father, and another bandmate, Taiji, who died under mysterious circumstances in 2011. Yoshiki talked about how he still feels inspired by all of these people today.

1st Set 1. I’ll Be Your Love (Theme for the World Expo Japan) 2. The Last Song 3. Forever Love (Theme for the animation film X) 4. Golden Globe Theme (Theme for the Golden Globes®) 5. Hero (Theme for the animation film Saint Seiya) 6. La Venus (Theme for the film We Are X) 7. Moonlight Sonata (Beethoven) 8. Anniversary (Theme for the Emperor of Japan 10 Year Anniversary)

When the most popular heavy metal band in Japan came to New York in October of 2014 to play a show at Madison Square Garden, they managed to sell out the legendary arena, despite being virtually unknown in America. X (known stateside as X Japan), got their start in the 1980s as a glam metal band, doing their best to shock audiences with their outrageous stage show and equally over-the-top, gender-bending physical appearances that included flamboyant rock fashions, wildly theatrical hairstyles and Kabuki-esque make-up. But what critics who initially dismissed the band as all style and no substance didn’t realize was that these guys could play their asses off, and were selling the type of rebellious image that repressed Japanese audiences couldn’t wait to buy. Now, an award-winning documentary, We Are X, aims to bring the myth and enigma that is X Japan into your consciousness.

Critics say that the mark of a good documentary is when its story is accessible to, and can be fully enjoyed by, audiences who are completely unfamiliar with its subject matter. Using the career-milestone Madison Square Garden concert as a jumping off point, and circling back to that show (which I attended) at the film’s end, Director Stephen Kijak (Stones in Exile, Scott Walker: 30 Century Man) has succeeded wildly at crafting a career-spanning Rock & Roll fable that will surely hook those who’ve never even heard of X Japan right from its opening credits.

Yoshiki on Stage at MSG

Told primarily from the viewpoint of founding member Yoshiki; X Japan’s drummer, composer and charismatic leader, We Are X is both the story of the band’s groundbreaking 30-year career, and also the life story of Yoshiki, who turned to music as a child as a means to cope with the suicide of his father. Forming X as a teenager with school friend Toshi, who became the band’s lead singer, Yoshiki was driven to succeed by existential questions that haunted him from his father’s death; namely “What is my purpose?” and “why am I here?”

Yoshiki and Stephen Kijak Discuss the Film at a Post-Screening Q&A Here in NYC

Embracing a ‘Do or Die’ sensibility, X Japan became not just an innovative and successful rock band, but a cultural force as powerfully influential as that created by The Beatles decades before them. Not only have they achieved phenomenal record sales and concert attendances, but band members’ personal brands are associated with products as diverse as credit cards, wine, comic book superhero alter egos, and dolls made in their own likenesses. X Japan is also credited with spearheading the uniquely Japanese Visual Kei movement.

X Japan on Stage at MSG

The band’s great successes, however, were tempered with equally great tragedies. As a counterpoint to the celebratory moments, the film carefully explores the suicides of two seminal band members, Hide (in 1998) and Taiji (in 2011), which shattered the lives of both X Japan’s surviving members, and devastated their fans, one of whom was driven to suicide because of the news. We Are Xis a true life Rock & Roll story that really has everything.

Yoshiki and Toshi Rocking It Back in the Day!

Despite the intense personal/personnel drama, career challenges and many heart-rending moments, We Are X is also good fun, and thoroughly entertaining. One of my favorite parts happens towards the film’s end, when Yoshiki and Toshi are reunited in 2007, ten years after the singer abandoned X Japan to join a mind-controlling cult. Yoshiki recalls hanging out at the Palladium in Hollywood, where the friends were approached by two guys looking to buy drugs. One of the men asked the duo if they knew where they could score some X (meaning the psychedelic drug, Ecstasy). Yoshiki, whose grasp of the English language is obviously much better now than it was back then, laughs when he recalls replying to the guy, with complete sincerity, “We are X!” Hilarious.

Yoshiki at the Crosby Street Hotel in NYC (All Photos and Video By Gail)

A couple of weeks ago, I attended an intimate press screening and party for the upcoming theatrical release of the award-winning documentary, We Are X, which explores the amazing history of Japanese rock band X (known as X Japan in the US), focusing on the group’s charismatic drummer and founder, Yoshiki Hayashi. The documentary is just fantastic, and you can read my review on this site closer to the film’s release date in late October!

Yoshiki was present at the screening, and sat with director Stephen Kijak (Scott Walker: 30 Century Man) for a Q and A about the film before treating press and fans in attendance to a brief piano performance, featuring both original compositions and some of his favorite classical pieces.

In the above video, Yoshiki is concluding one of his own compositions before segueing into a passage from Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake. Please Enjoy!

Yoshiki will be playing two nights with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Hall in January 2017. Visit This Link for tickets and more information!